Documents leaked to The Guardian newspaper and the BBC reveal that the foundation, which supports Charles's charitable work and trades under the name the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund, received donations in 2009, 2010 and 2011 from a British Virgin Islands shell company called Quantus Division.

The documents claim Quantus Division was part of a Russian-operated network of 70 offshore companies that sent £3.5bn to Europe and the US.

It is alleged that some of the funds flowing through the network can be linked to frauds committed during Vladimir Putin’s presidency, which are being investigated by government prosecutors in Lithuania.

Quantus Division's donation to the foundation went towards the rescue of Dumfries House, a stately home in Ayrshire owned by the Dumfries House Trust.

Prince Charles personally intervened in 2007 to prevent the sale of the house.

A commission spokeswoman said it was aware of concerns about funding of the foundation.

"We will be contacting the foundation for further information and to assess the charity’s handling of this matter," she said.

A spokesman for the foundation said it had adhered to regulation and law and nothing had given cause for concern.

"The charity applies robust due-diligence processes in accordance with Charity Commission and Scottish charity regulator guidelines as well as legislation relating to money laundering, the Bribery Act, terrorism and political activity," he said.

"In the case of the examples highlighted, no red flags arose during those processes."

The donations from Quantus Division were made by Ruben Vardanyan, the former boss of the Moscow investment bank Troika Dialog, who has ties to the Russian president Vladimir Putin.

There is no suggestion Vardanyan or Prince Charles, who have had a long-term business and charitable relationship, did anything wrong.

According to The Guardian, Vardanyan said the funds were for charitable donations to "preserve architectural heritage in England".

The spokesman for the prince's charities said the newspaper allegations related to people whose involvement with the charities ceased in 2014 "and, as such, could not have been considered at the time".

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